Friday, October 14, 2011

Book Review and Giveaway: The Night Circus

Synopsis: Erin Morgenstern’s dark, enchanting debut takes us to the black and white tents of Le Cirque des Reves, a circus that arrives without warning, simply appearing when yesterday it was not there. Young Celia and Marco have been cast into a rivalry at The Night Circus, one arranged long ago by powers they do not fully understand. Over time, their lives become more intricately enmeshed in a dance of love, joy, deceit, heartbreak, and magic. Author Morgenstern knows her world inside and out, and she guides the reader with a confident hand. The setting and tone are never less than mesmerizing. The characters are well-realized and memorable. But it is the Night Circus itself that might be the most memorable of all.

My Take: One word to me sums up this book for the last month: hype! Holy moly, I was even out of the country for two weeks without the Internet and I still think of this book as being everywhere before and after I left. So, in my backpack this book went for my long airplane ride as I expected to be captivated for an incredibly long journey by Le Cirque des Reves.

The story sets out from the get-go as certainly being something totally different than anything I have ever read before. The section dividers are illustrated beautifully in black and white stars of varying degrees which is fitting since the circus is all black and white. The imagination can only guess at how cool that would be. We meet a huge cast of characters (which as usual, for me is hard to keep straight). I could have used a legend or something at the beginning. After all, this book is long and it jumps around a lot in time. Many of them have magical powers and are therefore involved in the formation of the circus. Others are merely captivated by it.

What I enjoyed was how different this book was from anything else I had read. The characters were a little bit creepy, a little bit unusual, and a little bit relateable. You wanted to know them, you wanted to visit the circus and you wanted to be a part of the magic. I also appreciated the fact that it was somewhat easy to imagine what was occurring. The movie rights have been bought and I do believe it would make a really cool movie.

What I didn't enjoy was how the plot for me did not progress in the middle. This book was long and it jumped around in time a lot. Rather than move it along, I felt it made it was more stilted. I had to remember who was who and instead of being immersed in the story, I was too busy trying to understand what was happening in what time period and to who. It took me out of the moment.

I realize I am in the minority but I think we all know that not every book is for every body. All you have to do is google this book and you'll find plenty of positive reviews.

Cover Lust: Since the circus in the book is all black and white, I think the cover totally fits the book!

Giveaway DetailsThe publisher has kindly offered up one new ARC to a lucky winner! The deadline for this giveaway is Oct. 28th; entries open to those in the US.To Enter (Mandatory)!Comment below with a way for me to contact you.For Extra entries (Optional), indicate that you are:+1 Follow this blog on Google Connect (see right sidebar)+1 Follow me on twitter and tweet about this giveaway (include @amusedbybooks in your tweet)+1 Blog/Post about this giveaway on your sidebar3 extra entries available. Giveaway open until 11:59pm PST Oct. 28th. I will draw the winners using random.org and announce them here on my blog. Good luck!

39 comments:

No need to enter me in the giveaway, as I have an ARC of my own waiting for me to get to it. Just wanted to say I'm glad there are a few people, at least, who didn't LOOOOOOOVVVVEEEE this one. I'm worried I'll be one of those, too, and so I'll be happy not to be alone!

I really appreciated your review. I have this book waiting for me, and having read so many positive reviews, I was starting to get nervous that I wouldn't buy into the hype. I'm still anxious to read it, but it's nice reading something that isn't, "This is the greatest book of the year!"

No need to enter me. I read it already and also didn't love it. I didn't have trouble keeping track of the characters, but I found the jumping around in time odd and quickly grew bored because so little happened and the characters weren't terribly well developed. I'm glad to have some company in the "this book is not amazing" camp!

sorry to hear this didn't work out for you. i hate it when i read a book that's been overhyped or have too high of expectations for it. i haven't read it yet, so i can't really voice my opinions on the book, but you're right in how not all books work for everyone.

Oh no, what is the reading a blog version of sticking your fingers in your ears and saying "lalala I'm not listening"? hehehe I have this sitting on my shelf and I'm so excited for it. I'm glad I'm back to reading blogs in time to read your review. I will lower my expectations about the middle and may not be let down. I've missed your reviews so much I'm so happy to be back online.

I agree about the hype - this book must win the award for the most hyped book of the year! I also agree about the plot going a bit stale in the middle. Great atmosphere, just a shame it wasn't as good as the hype would lead you to believe.

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I love to read fiction of any kind (and some non-fiction!). When not reading, I am working hard for my money, exploring the great city of San Francisco, and harassing my husband's cat. Feel free to email me at: amusedbybooks@gmail.com